I’m sure you’re aware that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 came out just a little while ago, and that it came out for the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC. What you might have missed is that there was also a DS release called Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3: Defiance. Now aside from the slightly silly title, you probably don’t know much about this game because quite frankly a DS release of a majour AAA shooter title is not going to interest anywhere near the number of people that it will on the majour consoles. To illustrate this point, here is first week sales for Call of Duty 8, thanks to VGChartz.
Xbox 360 – 6,677,257
PS3 – 4,700,174
PC – 369,155 (Digital Sales not included)
Wii – 75,029
DS – 15,557
Alright, so that illustrates the picture I’m trying to paint. And really, the reason most people don’t play the DS version is quite frankly due to the fact that a first person shooter doesn’t translate well to a touchscreen and buttons. If you like it I’m happy for you, but I can’t stand them and most others I’ve asked feel the same way. So, would you be expecting the DS version to get massively good reviews trying to shoehorn a big title onto the underpowered last-gen DS? Of course not, but developer n-Space apparently disagreed. Official Nintendo Magazine gave the game a 70%, and Kotaku‘s much-argued-over ‘Gut-check’ non-review gave a resounding NO to a purchase. So, what did kindly n-Space have to say about that on their Facebook page?
The official Nintendo Magazine of UK gives CoD:MW3:D a 70%. Apparently we get marked down for ‘not being ready to take the step up to 3DS yet.’ I’m always amazed by how poorly game journalists understand the industry they work in. …Oh, and Kotaku can suck it.
It seems like they took particular offense to being told they weren’t ready to step up to the 3DS. They actually have released a 3DS game with Majesco, Jaws: Ultimate Predator. I wish I could tell you if they were actually ready to step it up, as they actually released that game back in November the 1st, but it seems Metacritic has no reviews and I just heard about it now. I mean, look at this trailer. Looks like a 9/10, right?
And just to give you an idea of the previous review scores for n-Space developed Call of Duty titles, here they are:
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare – 75% on 22 reviews
Call of Duty: World at War – 75% on 12 reviews
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Mobilized – 73% on 28 reviews
Call of Duty: Black Ops – 74% on 13 reviews
And currently, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3: Defiance has 65% on 2 reviews. Honestly I have no idea what they wanted out of the reviews. They have consistently produced low-70s material and they react with hostility to a 70% review. Why not yell at Modojo for their 60% review?
Now whatever your opinion on the professionalism and the actual quality of the titles they produce, it’s up to you if you want to buy it or not. I won’t be reviewing it, but here’s a little multiplayer gameplay posted on Youtube by DSClanSA, enjoy.
